Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to lighting assemblies for use within an interior cabin of a vehicle, such as a commercial airplane, and more particularly to lighting assemblies that may direct light to multiple areas within an interior cabin of a vehicle.
Commercial aircraft include an interior cabin that may be divided into numerous sections. A cockpit is generally separated from a passenger cabin, which may include a first class section, a business class section, and a coach section. The passenger cabin may also include one or more work areas for flight personnel, such as galleys, which may include food and beverage storage structures. One or more aisles pass through the passenger cabin and connect each of the passenger sections to one or more paths to one or more doors of the aircraft.
Luminaires are used to illuminate various areas within a commercial airplane. For example, luminaires are secured to a portion of ceiling and shrouded from view. The luminaires are used to illuminate portions of the ceiling, walls, luggage bins, and/or the like within a cabin of the airplane.
With the introduction of light emitting diode (LED) based luminaires, interior cabin space may be illuminated with light of varying colors. Certain air carriers take advantage of this capability by using different colored lights for branding. For example, a particular air carrier may illuminate areas above luggage bins a certain color that are associated with the air carrier.
Further, LED based luminaires allow for custom lighting scenes within the cabin. For example, known systems include multiple luminaires that are used to mimic natural lighting, such as a sunrise or sunset, or a theatrical scene within the airplane.
In general, each luminaire shines light in a single direction, which is defined by an optical element of the luminaire. To illuminate different areas within an airplane, multiple luminaires are used. As another option, a single luminaire may be mechanically moved within the airplane to shine light at a different location. However, limited space within an aircraft may limit or prevent a luminaire from being moved.
Additionally, known luminaires include light emitters that are aligned with respect to a central longitudinal axis of each luminaire. Current aircraft interior general cabin lighting is incapable of producing convincing transverse (for example, transverse relative to a central longitudinal axis of a luminaire) lighting effects due to the light emitters being oriented about and along the longitudinal axis. Also, in various settings, the light emitted from the LEDs along the central longitudinal axis may be blocked from reaching a desired area, such as by a ceiling panel, portion of a luggage bin, or the like
Accordingly, a need exists for a versatile and adaptable lighting assembly that may be used within an internal space of a vehicle.